Redistributing surplus light via solarpowered outdoor cinema

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Curating a book/exhibition/screening with the Sunshine Socialist Cinema, at FOCO in Lisbon, are: Aude Vignac, Jule Kurbjeweit, Luísa Santos, Federico Rudari, Juliana Orrego Trujillo. Here they all are, next to some randos.One of the many excellent things they are producing is a questionnaire, in which we ask our audience for thoughts on the What and the How of a utopian cinema. The answers are published continuously here on the blog, and in a book which you can find online (link coming up shortly).

Now. We would like to direct all of our readers to the questionnaire, because it is still open. Your answers will not only be published, more importantly they will provide fuel and direction for the re-structuring of our cinema. Doesn’t that sound like something you’d want to be a part of?

“When you dream of a utopian cinema, what do you envision? What would your ideal Sunshine Socialist Cinema be like?”

– Documentary mix with fiction on possible economic and social schemes everywhere in the world and debates afterwards of what was real or what was fiction to show that some equal system can happen for real and see how we can progress

– It will provide a lot of space and acceptance for the choice of what film to screen, what audience to come and what opinions are to be raised. It will also aim for building a bridge between the artist, the audience, the industry and the society. There is always a discussion session led by different interested parties with different pov.

– It would bring different views of socialism to the screen and debates, from Stalin to Mao, and viewers as well as employees would have to cope with the natural arguments that would break up in every session, delaying people and even bringing physical fights to the outside (it sounds funny and scary, but that’s how it works)

– A place that enables watching and debating cinema with no hierarchies through panel structures or other models of power.

– This example seems already quite interesting. Maybe add a bar for those discussions ; a space for movie to be displayed in an open air environment during summer, a place to receive food/clothes to be given to charity, and tolerance/openness for everyone (which i’m sure is quite obvious).

– An open space where after a film screening we would be able to discuss, with a panel of moderators the issues we believe the film brought up

– A cinema that would create the space for reflection and action at individual and collective levels

– A socialist movie followed by a Q&A with an expert on the topic, then some alcohol to cheer everyone.

– The utopian cinema is an informal activity where everyone is welcome, is a place of debate and inclusion, a place to talk and discover other ideas.

– The utopian cinema would show films you could not see elsewhere. The watching experience itself should be special. There would be a pre-film introduction and a post-film conversation/discussion.

– Utopian cinema would allow political and social critical discussion, therefore addressing the main problems of society, and searching for possible solutions for them even if on an esthetic and symbolic level.

– It would be a place for discussing progressive ideas and learning from different perspectives after watching interesting films

– A warm welcome, an introduction that might raise questions to consider, diverse screenings, an opportunity for a q&a after the screening, and then an informal drink with everyone who felt like staying. Maybe a local cafe that we could go to afterwards. You could intersperse screenings with talks, where the speaker showed clips, and were in conversation with one of the organisers.

– I would love it to change location, to be dynamic and use it as another lair of agenda setting.

– The ideal SSC in my opinion would raise relevant questions of society, such as poverty, income inequality and multiculturalism, and offer a socialist perspective and how to address them for the benefit of all. This however should not come in the form of a one-size-fits-all prescription, but by inspiring a discussion among the viewers and producers aswell. This is why the SSC would have to be very inclusive, also inviting people who do not identify as socialists to join in as a one-sided discussion in a bubble does traditionally not change much.

– A cinema close to the beach, with nice cold drinks, cozy chaoirs and a provacative discussion after the movie

– A cinema room were u choose a topic every month. And each week, 2 or 3 diferent movies screened (in a loop like 3 or 4 times a weeks) preceded by a little introduction and followed by a debate to understand how the movie treat the topic of the month. In order to be able to compare the diferent points of view and technicles of each movie maker.

– First of all it would show all movies in the respective original language they were recorded in. Preferably before and after the movie there would be a little art gallery/ discussion round/ some food and drinks, so that watching movies would become a social event again rather than an occasion for individual consumption.

– It should be a place to share ideas, visions, views and criticism on any kind of current past or future topic!

– A place to see a film and before the flim a context explaination with some documentations and divers opinion / see the film / and after debate aboute the topic around a drink / have some different views in the debate / there is a book music film and documentary shop / there os a bar and snack around a cheminée with a lot of sofa like a lounge

– The utopian cinema could bring up different topics (fair fashion, sustainable lifestyle, social projects, etc). It would be nice to first get an overview of the topic and then discuss it to have different point of views.

– My dream cinema would have movies in good quality sound/image that I can not find online.

– The cinema would give room for discussion and exchange in relation to the films and also the general topics the films would depict.

– It would provide information in an interesting and accessible way so that people without a lot of prior knowledge would understand and become interested

– A utopian cinema would provide a platform for watching and discussing films with socio-political themes, which would start conversations around these topics. It would also have a community-building function in the neighbourhood in which it is organised, bringing neighbours together and helping them build a sense of community spirit, although it would not be exclusively a community project and would be open to anyone from anywhere in the world. As well as this it would have an educational function, introducing people of all ages to topics and films they hadn’t previously been exposed to.

– It could mix environment problems who concern the World today

– It would be a space for community building, where cinema could bring together people from different backgrounds and talk about the movies shown.

– Utopian Cinema would show alternative ways of living in order to criticize the way we’re currently living

And we’re back, again, pushing outdoor solar powered socialist cinema in 2019. Exciting times up ahead, unless time turns out to be a spiral in which case excitement will be found all around. This year, the year of the Pig, there will be film festivals, informative collaborations, cinema in weird locations, and opportunities for audience interactions. Might be another ‘Election Special’ too. Come over, come over!

The What And The How, our speculative investigation into utopian future formats continues. We have been collaborating with an international team of curators, who produced a questionnaire, a book, and a screening program, among other things. The report begins in the very next blogpost, coming up shortly.

There’s been a bit of press this season. Leftwing daily Dagens ETC ran an interview with us in anticipation of our summer screening in Höja. Then they also ran a promo/ad for our screening in Katrineholm in August. The magazine published by the national artists’ union, Konstnären, had a piece about us in their latest issue, on the theme of politics&art.

Waiting around the corner is the latest issue of Fält Magazine, soon to be published by Art Lab Gnesta. It includes a lengthy interview with us, and as a special treat the poster that Sara Granér did for us will be included, with important info printed on the back. The poster has been very popular and we ran out of free give-aways almost immediately last summer, so this will be a new chance for those who missed out the first time around. Get a copy of Fält #9 and you get a riso-printed Sunshine Socialist poster for your fridge door as a fine bonus!

The back of the poster is designed and illustrated by Emanuel Hallklint. It’s a variation on or manual, really. Here’s an excerpt of the text…

Election results are in. You may be wondering whether our presence in the village of Höja in the countryside of northwest Skåne has affected the way people vote there. Has eight years of socialist and environmentalist discourse swayed any minds? Well.

Good news first: the socialist party, V, has doubled their share of the votes, from 1.4 per cent to 3! Bad news then: every other figure shown above. The fascist party (yellow bar) now attracts one third of the voting citizens of Höja. The Green party lost half their local votes, from 4.5 per cent to 2.1.

Of course, this is partly our fault, and we will try to remedy things over the next four years. Hope you stick around!

As previously stated elsewhere: On Saturday August 18 we’ll be presenting the first ever film festival in Katrineholm. Five films shown, plus various bobs and bits in between. The clips, pics and bits of chitchat we will use during presentation and audience interaction have been re-mixed from previous screenings this summer – the Disastrous screening and the Election Special screening. And the festival is influenced by comments and thoughts from those previous audiences, even down to the selection of films.

The Giant Knotweed Panflute Ensemble by Ingela Ihrman

The Giant Knotweed Panflute Ensemble by Ingela Ihrman will be screened continuously from 17.00 in one of the greenhouses. Quoting from the artists website:

“The Giant Knotweed is a garden escapee with Japanese roots that Environmental Protection Agencies in Europe and North America classifies as an invasive specie. Companies in these regions use poison, dynamite and excavators to help land owners in despair who want to get rid of “the growing curse of the Giant Knotweed”. By making pan flutes of it’s hollow stems, I suggest a different relation to the Giant Knotweed, based on mutuality and creativity.

In April 2015 eight people living in Malmö visited the place next to a highway where the knotweed stems that I made the flutes from once grew. Each member of “The Japanese Knotweed Panflute Ensemble” choose a flute and spent time in the shrubbery. The situation resembled a plant meditation or a “jam session” where perception and breathing was as important as playing tunes on the flutes. We closed our eyes, filled our lungs with air and listened to the roar from the highway and other sounds together.”

On Saturday August 18 we’ll be presenting the first ever film festival in Katrineholm. Five films shown, plus various bobs and bits in between. The festival takes place inside the solar panel park run by ETC. The park is like an extended showroom for alternative energy solutions, soon to become mainstream. Check out their site for pics, presentation, and directions – https://etcel.se/katrineholm

Riso-printed posters, Gnesta

Inside one of the greenhouses, among the tomato plants, we’ve got a couple of films going on repeat, from around five o’clock. One of the films is Donna Haraway: Storytelling For Earthly Survival by Fabrizio Terranova. Quoting from the Tate.co.uk website:

“Donna Haraway’s groundbreaking work in science, technology, gender and trans-species relationships over the last four decades is marked by her deep commitments to feminism and environmentalism. Refusing to distinguish between humans and animals and machines, she proposed new ways of understanding our world that challenge normative structures and boundaries. Her approach to writing is equally distinct, breaking with prevailing trends in theory by embracing narrative techniques in painting a rebellious and hopeful future.”

Outdoor screening begins around nine in the evening, on a cinema screen set up in a field of solar panels. We’ve got popcorn popped and cinnamon buns baked in a solar oven. Entry and snacks are free. Check back shortly for more info on the films to be shown!

The festival is arranged in cooperation with Art Lab Gnesta, who we’ll be working with some more over the coming year. Check out their site for info on an amazing greenhouse project, and a swamp biennale among other great things – http://www.artlabgnesta.se/

The Swedish employment agency has registered 400 000 unemployed, and there are 40 000 jobs advertised – what then is the true function of the employment agency? And how do the people who work at the employment agency feel about the meaning of their work?

Vi Bara Lyder, foto Fredrik Wenzel

In 2015 sociologist researcher Roland Paulsen published his study of the Swedish employment agency in the format of a reportage book, Vi bara lyder (We just do as we’re told). The book was turned into a script for Malmö Puppet Theatre, and the play Funktionell Dumhet (Functional stupidity) debuted the same year. In the play, the authentic lines from Paulsen’s study were voiced by cardboard puppets. Now the play has been filmed, and edited into a 30 minute documentary, by director Erik Holmström and filmmaker Fredrik Wenzel.

Vi Bara Lyder, foto Fredrik Wenzel

What is the true function of the employment agency? Well for one thing, they have provided us with a number of statistics which we will go through in connection with the screening on Thursday!